'Superman' Flies in at No. 1

Warner Home Video's Superman Returns took the top spot on the national DVD sales as well as rental charts the week ended Dec. 3.

But demand for the previous week's chart topper, 20th Century Fox's Ice Age: The Meltdown, was so high that the animated sequel finished a strong second on both charts.

According to Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data, Superman Returns only outsold Ice Age by a margin of 2.5 to 1, while on Home Media magazine's video rental charts Ice Age generated an additional $8 million to bring its rental take after two weeks to $18.3 million. Superman Returns generated nearly $13 million at the rental counter, one of the highest debuts all year.

The sleeper of the week, however, is Genius and The Weinstein Co.'s Clerks II, which came to video after earning just $24.2 million in theaters but bowed at No. 4 on both the sales and the rental charts.

Also making a strong debut was Lionsgate's See No Evil, which debuted at No. 8 on First Alert and No. 9 on the rental chart.

Clerks II generated an estimated $6 million in rental stores, while See No Evil made $3.8 million. In each case, that's about a quarter of the box office gross.

Four seasonal titles also reappeared in the First Alert top 20: Sony Wonder's The Original Television Christmas Classics at No. 12 (tie), Warner's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! cartoon at No. 15, Paramount's It's a Wonderful Life at No. 17 and Warner's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at No. 20.